With aging demographics, dermatological treatments in general and in particular dermatological treatments for slowing the effects of aging are becoming increasingly popular.
It is known that aging of the skin shifts the balance between collagen production and breakdown, which leads to wrinkles, facial sag and rough skin texture. Stimulating skin cells to produce collagen can partly reverse this process. Stimulating collagen synthesis in aged skin is shown to reduce wrinkles and improve skin texture. The benefit of stimulating a person's own collagen production is that collagen is deposited in an orderly, structured manner and that there is no risk of allergy, immune reaction or injection-induced infection.
Some prior art methods for reducing the effects of aging on the skin were based on thermally injuring the skin with associated disadvantages. The first era of a different approach called low level laser radiation therapy and photobioactivation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Some lasers available were then tested for a biological effect. Largely anecdotal observations were made at the time.
The second era began in the 1980s. During this period, proper controls were used to discriminate the placebo effect from significant results. People became interested in the wavelengths of the radiation produced by the lasers, and began to investigate the photobiological basis of the therapeutic use of laser radiation.
A third era has recently started. More data on the photobiological basis of existing phototherapies are now available, and more is known about the photoactivation of enzymes and membranes. Some prior art methods and devices of photoinduction have been proposed. However, they have heretofore yielded relatively unsatisfactory results.
In view of the above, there is a need in the industry to provide a novel method and a novel device for the treatment of mammalian tissues.
The present description refers to a number of documents, the content of which is herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.